drowning in them
by ipsa dixit
Summary: "I'll take you to the ball. It's a win-win. You get to go and I get to have a cute date," Scorpius says, smiling widely./for fruits


_for fruits! :) i hope you like it aha_

 _prompts at the bottom_

 _thanks to tiggs, shiba, and ck for betaing!_

 _1320 words, by google docs_

* * *

Lily sighs and looks at Albus and Scorpius. They've been sitting there for probably the past hour, just whispering and looking at each other. It's almost sickening how much they love each other. There's no response from them. Squinting at them, she clears her throat and sighs again.

"Sigh," she says, drawing out the end of the word. Are they going to _look up_? "Sigh!" she says again, louder this time.

"Did you just say 'sigh' instead of actually _sighing_?" Albus asks her, _finally_ looking over at her, one eyebrow raised.

"Well, me actually sighing wasn't getting your attention," Lily says, sitting up. Scorpius gives her a little smile, but she's too busy glaring at Albus to give him one back.

"Oh, we heard, we just ignored you," Albus says, rolling his eyes. There's a satisfying feeling in her stomach as Scorpius lightly hits Albus on the knee.

"That's not true," he says kindly to her. Lily _knows_ there's a reason she prefers Scorpius instead of Albus. "What's wrong, Lily?"

"I'm too young to go to the ball," she says with a little frown. That's what's bugging her, and she knows that it's slightly silly, but _still_. Hogwarts has a Winter Ball every two years, for fourth years and above. In her first year, she didn't really care, but she's in _third year_ now. She's so close to being allowed in, but yet so far. She doesn't want to wait another two years. Of course, if she gets asked by someone older she can go, but that probably won't happen; she doesn't really speak to people in older years.

"Get a boyfriend who's older than you," Albus says, tracing his fingers over Scorpius'. "It worked for me."

"We're in the same year, Al," Scorpius says, a slight smile on his face. "I'll bring you to the ball, Lily," he offers, grasping Albus' hand. Albus pulls away, looking at Scorpius strangely.  
"What?"

Lily _would_ be smirking, but she's also perplexed. Albus and Scorpius haven't been dating for long — just under two years — but it's pretty clear to _everyone_ that Albus is Scorpius' and Scorpius is Albus'; after all, they haven't stopped being all over each other yet.

"I'll take you to the ball. It's a win-win. You get to go and I get to have a cute date," Scorpius says, smiling widely. Lily fixes her stare on the dimple on his right cheek.

What?

"Are you inadvertently breaking up with me for my sister?" Albus asks, raising a single eyebrow. Lily switches her gaze to him; it's quite satisfying to see him angry.

"No, I'm way too gay to break up with you," Scorpius says, patting Albus quickly on the arm. He turns back to Lily, still smiling. "What do you think? I'll be your date for one night."

"I think it's magnificent," Lily says, smirking at Albus. Lily loves Scorpius, really. He's the much better older brother.

" _I_ don't!" Albus interjects, grabbing Scorpius' hand. Scorpius shrugs, looking smug.

"You never asked me to the ball."

Lily laughs, getting up.

She has a dress to prepare!

…

Lily racks her brain, but she doesn't think she's ever seen him in a suit. He looks good. Shaking her head, she tries to push that thought out of her mind; Scorpius is _Albus' boyfriend_. He's not for her.

In fact, Albus is _with_ Scorpius, right there, in just as nice of a suit.

"He's my boyfriend," Albus says to Lily, narrowing his eyes and grasping Scorpius' hand. "If you do anything to him, I'll have your head."

Lily squints at him.

"Hey, I'm a princess and I demand you treat me as such!" she retorts. So she might not be a princess; she _feels_ like one. She ransacked Dominique's trunk for her dress, a shimmery silver dress, and she feels like a princess in it. It's a nice feeling.

"I don't see a tiara, _Your Highness_ , so I'm calling bullshit."

Lily rolls her eyes, but brightens considerably when she sees Scorpius rolling his eyes too.

"I think you look beautiful, M'lady," he says, giving a little bow. Sticking her tongue out at Albus, Lily walks over and takes Scorpius' other hand.

"Good thing _you're_ my date," she says with a grin. Scorpius smiles, too.

It's a nice smile, Lily thinks.

…

"You're a good dancer."

Lily doesn't mean to sound so _surprised_ , but it's true: Scorpius Malfoy is a _really_ good dancer. It's attractive on him.

"I took lessons as a kid," Scorpius says, drawing Lily in _really_ close. Is it her heart that's beating this fast, or Scorpius'? Up close, she can count all of Scorpius' eyelashes. They have a slight curl to them, and they're really long, framing his grey eyes well.

 _Holy crap_ , she realises. Scorpius is _cute_.

But that doesn't matter; Scorpius is Albus' boyfriend. Scorpius is dating _her brother_. And he's gay. It doesn't matter if Lily _might_ think he's cute — it'll amount to nothing in the end. He's just doing her a favor. _Why is her body being attracted to him?_ Still, he's really cute.

Lily draws away, smiling at Scorpius.

"Let's get something to drink," she suggests, pointing at the drink table behind them. Scorpius nods, smiling and they walk over together.

"I'll get you a butterbeer," he offers, his smile still on his face. She nods, watching him turn around as she tries to calm her heart. This makes _no sense_. She shouldn't like Scorpius!

 _Hearts don't play by the rules_ , a small part of her thinks. She tries to push it down as Scorpius turns to her with butterbeers in his hands, still smiling.

"I'm glad Albus is actually having fun," Scorpius says, gesturing behind Lily. She turns and sees Albus laughing with one of his friends — Colin Something-Or-Other, she doesn't really remember. That means, though, that he's not watching them.

So what if Lily just kisses Scorpius?

It's a crazy idea, but there's something in her stomach that wants her to do it. Albus will never know and it'll just be _one_ kiss.

So she leans into Scorpius and plants a stiff kiss on his lips — she can tell that he wasn't expecting it. He pushes her away, looking startled.

"What was that?" he asks. His smile's gone, replaced by a look of deep confusion. Lily panics, not sure what to do, so she follows her instincts again, and pushes Scorpius, launching him into the drinks table with a big _crash_.

…

"I'm sorry."

"So you've said."

Scorpius pulls another wet napkin off of his shirt, dumping it in the small garbage bin besides them. He's soaked, head-to-toe, in refreshments. His hair is drooping. Guilt is churning in Lily's stomach, and she knows that Scorpius is going to bring it up sooner or later. The kiss.

"I never did get around to saying thank you, did I?" she says, trying to switch the topic to something other than the mess she made. "For tonight."

"It was no problem," Scorpius says quietly. An awkward silence settles on them. "I'm not going to tell Albus," Scorpius says after a moment, breaking the silence.

"What?"

Lily is surprised — she thought that the first thing he'll do is tell Albus.

"I'm not going to tell Albus; it was one kiss and I don't want it coming between us," Scorpius says, shrugging. Lily nods, feeling something in her chest bloom. That's a relief; Albus can be _scary_. "Besides, I don't like you like that," Scorpius adds. "You know that, right?"

Lily nods, because she _does_ know that. It was just a mistake. Scorpius can just be her friend. That's fine.

"Well, if you're fine with dancing with a wet man, we could go back out," Scorpius says, offering his hand. Her heart still beating fast, but slowing down a bit, Lily takes it with a thankful smile.

Wow. Scorpius _is_ really cool.

* * *

 _for:_

 _the houses competition [gryffindor, year 7, short - "i never got around to thanking you, did i?"]_

 _assignment 9 [mythology, task 7 - write about rejection]_

 _auction ["i'm a princess"/"i don't see a tiara"]_

 _cocktail month [cheese (one prompt)]_

 _love in motion [albus/scorpius]_

 _photography month [conceptual photography]_

 _writing club [character appreciation - hogwarts; disney - hakuna matata; shannon's showcase - belarus; lyric alley - 3; aaa - i have heard the future; sophie's shelf - captain sham; emy's emporium - inter-family rivalries]_


End file.
